Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Welcome to the first Nick Bradley Racing Newsletter of 2021 ​ Contents -​ Nick's Blog - S​ ilent Queen -​ Lion's Vigil -​ Offer to Sponsor NBR in 2021 - U​ nderstanding French Premiums - N​ ew Horse Alert - 2020 Owner Reviews - Boxing Day Quiz -​ Merchandise The Latest From Nick 2020 was a great year for Nick Bradley Racing and has allowed us to build in 2021 and move forward. As Billy Beane found out with the Oakland A's (Moneyball) when smaller teams are successful the bigger operations come knocking for your assets. I had spoken with Ben Curtis and his agent Simon in the week before Xmas and we did have a verbal agreement in place for him to ride for Nick Bradley Racing in 2021 under the same arrangement as 2020. Unfortunately Ben has been offered the Stable Jockey role at Mark Johnston's and has accepted the role. I know it wasn't an easy decision for Ben to make and personally I'm not sure it is a good move for Ben but I can understand him accepting the job. I'm always striving to provide the Nick Bradley Racing owners with the best chance of success on the racetrack and the jockey in the saddle is a big part of the equation as Ben showed in 2020. I'm therefore looking to find a replacement for Ben before the start of the turf season. There are a couple of potential replacement models I am considering for the NBR jockeys in 2021. The most important factors when considering jockeys are their riding ability, continuity so that jockeys know the horses they are riding and thirdly a jockey who provides good feedback. Option 1 - Select a jockey who will have the same arrangement in place as Ben Curtis had in 2020. Option 2 - Select a cohort of jockey's (approx 4) who we would effectively be 2nd choice Nick Bradley Racing jockeys after their retained owner or the yard they are stable jockey for. I hope to be able to organise a plan for Nick Bradley Racing ahead of the start of the turf season as jockey availability isn't a factor whilst we have one all weather meeting a day. It was good to see Silent Queen win under Ben on the opening day of the year. We fully expected her to win, but we didn't expect her to get put up 8lbs for the victory. Lion's Vigil ran well on his return to racing to finish 2nd at Southwell yesterday and a step up in trip is on the agenda for his next start. Dramatista and Baronial Pride make up our all weather team at this time and both should go close to winning on their next starts. The yearlings are now 2yos and the vibes are already starting off positively. Roger and his staff really like the Decorated Knight filly and Beau Jest is also well liked at this stage. Karl thinks we have a very smart team on what we have seen from them to date. The fillies up at Spigot Lodge are a very strong bunch and May should be an exciting month. We haven't had any mares foal yet but expect to see some foals on the ground in the second half of the month. All our mating plans have been determined and Citronella who was bought for the Glebe Farm Breeding project is pencilled in for New Bay. S​ ilent Queen kicked off 2021 in Great Style Silent Queen blazed a trail on New Years Day when she made all to win under Ben Curtis at Southwell. I​ t was a smart bit of placing by George to select the race, but everything went according to plan in the race and our filly showed that she was a class apart to score by such a margin. George said that her work at home had been very good so we were confident that the surface wasn't going to be an issue for her. She broke well from the stalls and Ben made all to win very comfortably from her rivals. It was a very good performance and earned a Timeform rating of 86. S​ he will now be targeted at Newcastle on the 21st January. L​ ion's Vigil runs a Cracker in Defeat Lion's Vigil continued the good start to 2021 with a great effort on Saturday to cling onto Second place by a short-head. Like Silent Queen Ben managed to break well from the stalls and dictate the pace for most of the race. When Lion's Vigil came under pressure turning in he looked like he could fade but he stayed on stoutly and did very well to come back from being headed in the final stages. Ben is confident he can make his presence felt off his mark and we are looking forward to seeing him step up in trip next time out and hopefully go one better! ​ Exciting Offer to SPONSOR Nick Bradley Racing​ N​ ick Bradley Racing has grown substantially over the past couple of years and with the growth has come greater media exposure. This heightened exposure has led to increased coverage for Nick Bradley Racing and the White and Black Silks. One of the clear highlights in 2020 was Dandalla winning on the world stage at Royal Ascot in June 2020. As you can see from the photo she was sponsored by the Tote who pay a fee to Nick Bradley Racing and in return they get the rights to have their logo on the front of the jockey silks. W​ hat we are offering Option 1: For a fee of £500 your business or company gets to have their logo on a the jockey silks of any yearling of their choice. This package will also include the opportunity to go and visit Nick and the team at Glebe Farm. O​ ption 2: For a fee of £999 your business receives all the benefits of Option 1 but you will also get the opportunity to go racing twice a year with the relevant badges for that particular horse that you sponsor. These badges include access to owners and trainers, which could be a great opportunity for your business hospitality. We have also created a links page on our website especially for this package and we would be willing to exchange your companies website with our's and visa versa. For more details or any questions please ring Nick on 07780112636​ French Premiums​ We thought it would be a good opportunity to outline what French Premiums are. As everyone is aware there is a wide debate about the levels of prize money in the UK. Often used as a comparison in the debate is the French prize money system and the envy we hold towards their much higher purses. Whilst, we believe that the levels of prize money in the UK will change in the forthcoming years it is worth capitalising on the benefits of running horses in France. The added bonus of buying horses who have been born in France and lived to beyond June of their lives as Yearlings results in them qualifying for what's known as French Premiums. T​ his allows horses to go and run in France and should they be successful in their races qualify for increased prize money on top of their purses. ​ For example last year, we took Fev Rover to Deauville and she went and won the Group 2 P​ rix du Calvados. For her victory she scooped approx. €50,000. This figure was obviously impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic however, in a normal year this figure would be €74,100. The point is if she had been raised in France like our Dabirism/ Penny's Picnic/ Olympic Glory Filly and won a Group 2 she would have been entitled to the added French Premiums. This would mean that rather one of our fillies winning the net: €74,100 she would also gain 60% adding a total of: €44,460 resulting in a Total amount: €118,560​ I​ n 2021 these premiums are due to be set at 70%. This year we have three fillies bought that qualify for French Premiums thus, Nick will be busy scouring the French Fixture book to find suitable races for our fillies that can run over there to target these premiums.​ T​ wo Year Olds With French Premiums in training with Richard Fahey O​ lympic Glory x Big Monologue This filly was bought from the Arqana October Yearling Sales for 26,000 Euros. She is out of the 91 rated mare Big Monologue who has produced 3 winners from 4 runners. She is a very good- looking filly, strong, great depth and a lovely way of going. She seems to have an excellent temperament at the sales and didn't put a foot out of place in the busy sales ring. We expect her to be ready to run in July over a 7 furlong trip and be the type who will be a backend 2yo and improve as a 3yo. The video above was made by Richard Fahey on the 7th January which shows the breaking in process. The reports have been very good thus far. Nick asked Richard how both our French Premium fillies' were going this week and Richard really likes both but he specified that he "loves the shape and step of the Olympic Glory"​ 40% Available- Click here to find out more P​ enny's Picnic x Marie D'or Marie D'o has produced two runners from three foals both of them by Penny's Picnic who are both winners and rated in the high 80s after winning over 80,000 Euros each.